Daily News of Los Angeles
By Eugene Tong
Jun 26, 2006
Speaking before a large gathering of civic, church and community groups Sunday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pledged to push through his reform plans for Los Angeles schools to curb high dropout rates.
``What we will have is an opportunity to empower parents and teachers,'' Villaraigosa told more than 1,400 people at the Wilshire Christian Church for the OneLA-IAF 2006 delegate's assembly. ``A 50 percent dropout rate is unacceptable.''The local OneLA coalition, aligned with the Industrial Areas Foundation, represents more than 80 churches, schools, unions and nonprofit groups throughout Los Angeles County.
Last week Villaraigosa brokered a deal in Sacramento for a draft bill to share administrative power of Los Angeles Unified School District with teachers, other mayors, parents and other community members. The deal fell short of his original plan, which called for much stronger mayoral control of the district.
While Villaraigosa is pushing to back his reform plans through state legislation, education activist Salvador Valdez urged the mayor to act locally.
``We don't need to do this in Sacramento,'' said Valdez, a teacher at San Gabriel Elementary and a United Teachers Los Angeles member. ``All we need is your work and your will to do it.''
At the event, Villaraigosa also said he would work with Sun Valley residents who are battling proposed expansion of several area waste-disposal facilities.
``We will work with you and continue to work with you,'' he said, responding to questions from a Sun Valley activist about the proposed expansion of the Bradley Landfill.
Dump operator Waste Management is seeking to extend the life of the landfill by a year, then build a 7,500-ton-per-day transfer and recycling station. The city Planning Commission is reviewing the environmental impact report.
The project and three other transfer and recycling stations are planned for the community in northeast San Fernando Valley. If all are approved, the area could receive up to 17,200 tons of waste per day.
Local activists have been fighting these projects, citing the poor air quality, which they believe contributes to higher rates of asthma in the area.